Occupying a former brothel in Kreuzberg, the world has been turned on its head at Madame Claude. It’s designed to look like an apartment where everything is upside down, with the chairs, lamps and bookshelves on the ceiling and the lights “hanging” from the floor. After all, sometimes the wrong way might actually be the right way. Madame Claude hosts concerts, DJ sets and other events each evening, including a music quiz every Wednesday and open mic nights on Sunday. Open daily 1900–late.

It’s not often when you take the lift in a shopping centre car park and select the top floor, that you’d emerge to find a cool rooftop garden and bar with fantastic views across the city and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. But this is Berlin, where anything is possible. Klunkerkranich is open all year round, but really comes into its own at sunset in the summertime, when the cool kids of Neukölln hit the roof for drinks and DJ sets. Open Wednesday–Friday 1600–0200, and Saturday­–Sunday 1200–0200.

It’s not known what the legendary film director Quentin Tarantino makes of this bar that bears his name, although he has made a number of films in and around Berlin, including Inglorious Basterds. That film is one of many celebrated on the walls of Tarantino’s bar, alongside his other classics such as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. As well as the memorabilia, Tarantino’s has daily happy hours and an extensive menu of classic and contemporary cocktails. Open Tuesday–Thursday 1900–0200, Friday–Saturday 1900–0400, and Sunday 1900–0200.

Greenery climbs the walls at Dschungel in Neukölln where, you’ll be unsurprised to learn, the name means ‘jungle’ in German. Trees grow inside at what has become one of the most popular watering holes in this trendy neighbourhood and a place where the canopy covers the ceiling. Down on the forest floor, bartenders serve up a menu of cocktails, wine and their very own beer. The bar is also attached to a cinema that hosts a programme of events, stage performances and film screenings, usually of arthouse movies and world cinema. The jungle is open every day from 1200–late.

YAAM, which stands for Young African Art Market, is not only one of the best places in the city to hear live reggae and dancehall music, as well as dub, Afrobeat and hip-hop, it’s also possibly the finest beach bar in Berlin during the warmer months. You can still find a great mix of live music events, parties, Afro Caribbean food markets, street art and yoga workshops, and art exhibitions all year round. Open daily 1100–2400.

From street level, the Mauersegler looks like a collection of rundown wooden sheds right next to where the Berlin Wall once stood. Sandwiched between the southern entrance to the Mauerpark and the Bernauer Straße entrance to the famous weekly flea market, the Mauersegler is open every Sunday from 0900–1900 for drinks and food. Between May and October this quirky indoor-outdoor bar is also open daily from 1400–0200 and has become a popular meeting point for drinks, live music and football on the big screen.

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Rum Trader

Tucked away in a corner building in Schöneberg, Rum Trader is the best possible example of size not being everything. This tiny bar has space for around 20 guests, and you’ll need to ring a bell to get in and hope they still have space. But once inside this intimate bar, you’ll be served by bartenders who know exactly what they’re doing as they create some of the best cocktails you can drink anywhere in this city or beyond. Open Monday to Friday 2015-0100, and Saturday 2130–0200.

Inspired by the nearby Märchenbrunnen fountain at the entrance to the Volkspark Friedrichshain, Fairytale is a cocktail bar aimed at adults, even if the décor takes its lead from Alice in Wonderland and other tales of the fantastic and fantastical. All the drinks have some kind of connection to fairytales and folklore, but this is not just a gimmick – the quality was recognised in 2016 with an award from the industry bible, Mixology magazine. Open Tuesday to Saturday 2000–0230.

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